REGISTER OF HERITAGE PLACES - ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTATION HERITAGE COUNCIL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 11. ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE The criteria adopted by the Heritage Council in November 1996 have been used to determine the cultural heritage significance of the place. 11. 1 AESTHETIC VALUE* The place is a particularly fine and rare example of the Federation Warehouse style architecture in Perth. (Criterion 1.1) The place is a dominant visual element in the Wellington Street streetscape to the west of the William Street intersection. The articulation of the façade sets the pattern for adjacent structures, such as the Wills building. (Criteria 1.3 & 1.4) 11. 2. HISTORIC VALUE Wesfarmers Building (fmr) was the long time administrative centre for the agricultural co-operative movement in Western Australia. This movement, and Wesfarmers more specifically, influenced the nature and development of primary industry in the state, and hence of the state’s economy. Wesfarmers Building (fmr) is a physical representation of Wesfarmers’ achievements in the primary industry sector. Its urban location as the administrative headquarters of the rural-based movement has contributed to the Western Australian community’s awareness of the significance of the agricultural industry in the state’s economy. (Criterion 2.2) A number of Western Australia’s most prominent businessmen and politicians have been members of the agricultural co-operative movement. Walter Harper, Hon. T. H. Bath C.B.E., Basil Murray, John Thomson and Sir Thorley Loton, all served as prominent board members and employees at the Wellington Street premises. (Criteria 2.2 & 2.3) Wesfarmers Building (fmr) is associated with Wesfarmers’ establishment in 1924 of 6WF, Perth’s first radio station. The station operated and transmitted from the top storey of the Wellington Street premises. 6WF was the first broadcasting service in Western Australia, had a strong rural focus, and initially transmitted primary industry prices to rural farmers. Entertainment later complemented this early emphasis on rural programming. 6WF was sold in 1928 to the Australian Broadcasting Company, now known as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (Criteria 2.2 & 2.3) The place was built by P & P Vincent & Son for Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood * For consistency, all references to architectural style are taken from Apperly, Richard, Irving, Robert and Reynolds, Peter A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 to the Present, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde 1989. Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Doc’n Wesfarmer’s Building (fmr) 1 15/12/2000 Knight from Melbourne in 1898. Sargood, Butler, Nicol & Ewen used the building as warehouse space for Sargood Importers & Merchants, a general merchandising and trading company based in Melbourne, Victoria. (Criteria 2.2 & 2.3) Wesfarmers Building was designed by, and is a fine example of the work of, prominent turn of the century architect and soldier, Sir J. J. Talbot Hobbs. (Criterion 2.3) 11. 3. SCIENTIFIC VALUE Wesfarmers Building (fmr) is significant for its structural system of cast iron columns with capitals used both to decorate and support the beams and the complementary corbel brackets to support the beams at the side walls. Also of significance is the use of more slender cast iron columns on successive floors from the basement to the top floor, reflecting the lighter loads encountered on higher floors. (Criterion 3.3) 11. 4. SOCIAL VALUE Wesfarmers Building (fmr) is of social significance to the rural community in Western Australia in particular, as the long time administrative centre for the agricultural co-operative movement in Western Australia. (Criterion 4.1 & 4.2) Wesfarmers Building (fmr) is of social significance because of its association with Wesfarmers’ establishment in 1924 of 6WF, Perth’s first radio station, which is familiar to many in the West Australian community. (Criterion 4.1) 12. DEGREE OF SIGNIFICANCE 12. 1. RARITY The building is rare as a particularly fine example of the Federation Warehouse style. (Criterion 5.2) 12. 2 REPRESENTATIVENESS The building is representative of warehouse Federation style architecture, having the characteristics of similar buildings found around Perth and Fremantle, but it is an unusually well articulated example. (Criterion 6.1) 12. 3 CONDITION The condition of the building is sound. The exterior surfaces appear without serious faults. The interior is unused and neglected in day to day housekeeping and the abandoned scheme has left unfinished work which detracts from the appearance of the place. Also there are some signs of water entry and termite attack. Overall the condition is considered sound. 12. 4 INTEGRITY The original intention of the building is intact, but not used. Changes that have worked against this are the painting of the external brickwork, the introduction of the waste pipes and vent stacks to the interior spaces and the spraying of the basement ceilings and columns. These have all detracted from the integrity but not seriously challenged it. The integrity of the place is considered low to moderate. Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Doc’n Wesfarmer’s Building (fmr) 2 15/12/2000 12. 5 AUTHENTICITY The original materials are largely in their original state. There has been damage done in some areas such as the ceilings and the stair balustrades and some of the materials modified with the painting of the external brickwork. The authenticity of the place is, on balance, considered moderate to high. 13. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE The supporting evidence has been prepared by consultants from the Centre for Western Australian History. The documentary, evidence has been compiled by Chantal Gurney-Pringle, Historian. The physical evidence has been compiled by John Pidgeon, Architect. 13. 1 DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE Wesfarmers Building (fmr) is a four storey warehouse building with basement, of concrete and steel construction, in Federation Warehouse style. Wesfarmers Building was designed by the prominent Western Australian architect Talbot Hobbs. Sir Joseph John Talbot Hobbs (knighted in 1918 as a result of his war command) was a prominent figure in the Western Australian architectural establishment in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a profession he combined with great success with a military career. In the 1890s, the architectural profession in Perth comprised only nine members, amongst them Hobbs, and he soon distinguished himself. He was successful in winning a competition in 1891 for the design of the Weld Club and this led to a number of other commissions and projects. Of these, his most notable included Scot’s Church and the Park Hotel in Fremantle, the Malthouse (1896), and the Swan Brewery (1897), as well as many of the new mansions built for the wealthy of South Perth and Peppermint Grove. Wesfarmers Building (fmr) was one of these commissions. In professional terms, Talbot Hobbs is worthy of note as the first treasurer of the newly-formed West Australian Institute of Architects in 1896 (he was president from 1909-1). In 1905, he was senior partner in the newly- established firm of Hobbs, Smith and Forbes, and this firm was responsible for many of Perth’s gracious buildings erected during this period, including the Halsbury Chambers, Temperance and General Insurance Building, Surrey Chambers, W.A. Trustee building, Savoy Hotel and the Freemasons’ Hall. His later works included St George’s College at the University of Western Australia, completed in 1931, which he regarded as his best achievement. He was also commissioned to design the State War Memorial, dedicated in 1929. This building is an important symbol of Hobbs’ two careers: architect and military leader. He served at high rank and with great distinction during the Great War. At various times he was also patron of Legacy, Chief Scout of Western Australia and warden of the Western Australian War Memorial. Hobbs died in 1938.1 Perth Town Lot V26 was purchased by the Swan Brewery Company Limited of Victoria in 1889.2 The vacant lot changed hands in 1895 when it was purchased by John Murray Watson and Horton William Atkinson.3 1 Nairn, B & Serle, G (eds) Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 9, 1891-1939 (Melbourne University Press, 1983) pp. 315-17; Lyall Hunt (ed) Westralian Portraits (UWA Press, Nedlands 1979) pp.152-158. 2 Certificate of Title Perth Town Lot V26 ,15/06/1889. 3 Certificate of Title Perth Town Lot V26, 13/06/1895. Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Doc’n Wesfarmer’s Building (fmr) 3 15/12/2000 Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood Knight from Melbourne purchased Perth Town Lot V26 in 1898 and Wesfarmers Building (fmr) was built by R & P Vincent & Son for Sargood, Butler, Nicol & Ewen. 4 Sargood, Butler, Nicol & Ewen used the building as warehouse space for Sargood Importers & Merchants, a general merchandising and trading company based in Melbourne, Victoria.5 Sargood Importer & Merchants traded at the Wellington Street premises for a period of nineteen years from 1898-1917.6 In 1917 Perth Town Lot V26 was purchased by the Swan Brewery Company Limited.7 The Westralian Farmers Limited purchased the Wellington Street property in 1918 and from this time, the history of the building is linked to the history of Wesfarmers..8 During the same co-operative farm movement, which saw the emergence of the Country Party as a rural political force, the Westralian Farmers Co- operative Limited (or Wesfarmers) was founded in 1914. The co-operative farmers' movement